The News: The Wisconsin State Senate passed Assembly Bill 1, which would reverse actions over recent years by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) that have lowered academic and performance standards for Wisconsin students. The bill now heads to Governor Evers for his consideration and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is publicly urging the governor to sign it.
The Quote: WILL Policy Director, Kyle Koenen, stated, “Governor Evers promised to make 2025 the ‘Year of the Kid’ and Assembly Bill 1 is an opportunity to do just that. Ensuring high standards for our schools should not be a partisan issue and we praised the Governor for his criticism of the Department of Public Instruction’s actions earlier this year. A veto would be a major setback for Wisconsin students, who deserve rigorous academic standards that set them up for success in the future.”
Additional Background: Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, DPI made several changes to Wisconsin’s academic accountability system that have made it less rigorous. These changes were made unilaterally by the Department without any input from the legislature or Governor. These changes included:
- 2020-21: DPI lowered the cut points on the state’s report cards, allowing more schools and districts to be rated as three stars or higher
- 2023-24: DPI changed the labels on the categories for outcomes on the Forward Exam.
- 2023-24: DPI lowered the cut points on the Forward Exam, allowing students to be judged proficient at lower scores.
Earlier this year, WILL endorsed Assembly Bill 1, introduced by Senator John Jagler (R-Watertown) and Representative Bob Wittke (R-Caledonia), because it would reverse DPI’s actions and revert to previous cut scores and labels. The bill passed the State Assembly on February 19th and the Senate followed suit today.
The previous standards were also instituted by Governor Evers when he served as Superintendent of DPI. Recently, the governor expressed surprise and frustration with the changes made by DPI, stating: “I think we need to have as high of standards as possible. I don’t think we should be lowering them.”
Read More:
Taking the Blindfold off K-12 Accountability, January 2025
WILL Testimony in Support of AB 1, February 2025
